The God Killers Saga: Maxmillian (Part 2)

The Fateful Guide

When our heroes awoke, they were no longer together. Each separated, they found themselves in tiny rooms with a single small desk and chair before them. A powerful, booming voice called out to each of them individually. As the voice spoke, words appeared on a piece of paper on the the desk, describing impossible situations of moral challenge. They were forced to choose and suffer the consequences of those choices in strange, surreal battles that would follow. They chose not deal in illegal painkillers and thus, suffered in their next battle from weakness, blindness and other debilitating ailments. They pushed a fat man from a bridge, sacrificing him to save a carriage full of helpless slaves. The sacrifice of the unsuspecting would carryover and they would be unable to protect the weakest of their party from taking damage.

This strange situation was unnerving at best, frustrating our heroes as they felt helping against it. They would not be alone, however. The blue spirit, Maximillian appeared to them. Something was wrong, this was not how his mental realm should be. Something had changed. He begged our heroes to endure, to hold on, until he could figure a way out.

When a young woman was murdered, our heroes blamed no one but the murderer. In their next forced encounter, the very same murdered appeared to challenge them. When a expedition became trapped in a cave, our heroes sacrificed the needs of the few for the lives of the many. The faceless creature looming over them cursed them with a plethora of enemies the next time they left their little rooms. The challenges and battles seemed ceaseless. Perhaps they would have been.

Finally, Maximillian appeared again. He revealed that they had been taken by a god-like creature called the Fateful Guide. Somehow, in Maximillian’s fragmented state, the entire realm had been absorbed by this creature and they were trapped. The only way to escape, would be to severe a piece of his power, weaken him just enough so that Maximillian could seperate the them realm away from the Fateful Guide. It would take every last piece of power he had, if that was enough, to free them. He bade them to go forth and face the Fateful Guide’s avatar. If they could defeat it, it would give them their only chance.

And so, the heroes did battle, with the heart, the mind, the body, the hands and the feet of the largest foe they had ever faced. When the final piece of the avatar fell, the Fateful Guide found himself severely weakened. But, Maximillian alone still could not muster enough power to free them. It wasn’t until a foreign power reached out, lent itself and aided Maximillian, that he was finally able to wrestle control of the realm from the hands of the Fateful Guide. Finally, they were free.

Our heroes found themselves in a small, comfortable room. A small fire blazed and they could relax on comfortable couches. A knock came at the door and a friendly face greeted them. Maximillian entered, now looking more whole than ever before. They had many questions, to which he did his best answer, though there was much that was still unclear to him.

Maximillian’s brother, Solomon had come to him and Saraphine, frantic with news that a demoness had recently been victorious over the forces of light and escaped the confines of its hellish prison. Solomon said that he had been promised a great reward if he could track down the injured demoness and destroy it before it could restore its power. Knowing the strength it could still possess, Solomon came to Maximillian and Saraphine with a proposition. If they would help him kill the demoness, he would leave their lives forever. To Maximillian, this was a golden deal; save the world from an evil menace and also rid himself of the sibling that had made his life so miserable. They hastily agree.

Solomon knew exactly where to find this demoness. A battle soon ensued. It was a difficult battle, and they nearly lost many times, but the demoness was badly injured and they eventually overtook her. Solomon was true to his word, packed up his dwelling, and left. Maximillian and Saraphine would learn only a few days later, however, that he had lied to them about several things.

Two days after this demoness had perished, the sky tore apart. From the tear came three beings of immeasurable power. They claimed to the very gods men worship. They accused Maxillian and Saraphine of murdering one of their own, Elandra, a goddess of magic. Maximillian was horrified as the gods explained the truth. Elandra had battle a league of demons, to the brink of death, but eventually she was victorious. Battered and injured, the goddess retreated until her wounds could heal. Unbeknownst to her, this league had laid a trap. As she left the battlefield, a hidden demon placed an illusion on her to appear as a demoness to all onlookers. This demon then travelled to a common accomplice, Solomon. He promised Solomon great power if he could finish the job that had been started. The rest was plainly obvious to Maximillian. He pleaded with these godly beings, tried to explain that they had been tricked, but they would hear none of it. The punishment that followed was as unique as it was cruel.

Their being was torn asunder and the essence of their beings were scattered across the multiplanes. Our heroes knew much of the story after that. There was not much more for Maximillian to say, so it was time then for him to release the mental essence. Moments later, our heroes found themselves back in Carter’s study.